Together with son ©husband
On Saturday we took our chance and skated on natural ice!
I had to dig deep to find our skates, which we last used in 2012. That was in the harsh winter with a frozen water pipe in our garage. We didn’t notice anything until one night I woke up from a strange noise. Husband went looking and when he stepped over the threshold in the garage, he ended up in the water. That strange noise came from gallons of rushing water gushing from a burst pipe after the thaw had set in. Fortunately, the water was able to escape through the crack under the garage door. Our washing machine that was connected to the burst pipe no longer felt like it after this adventure.
Finally to my surprise I found three pairs of skates and our eldest son wanted to come along; the youngest had to work, so that worked out well. The weather was clear and I wanted to see the sunset on the ice, so we headed out towards the end of the afternoon. Many had already been on the ice before us and the quality was a little less here and there, but there were still beautiful large smooth areas. From there we saw the people on the outdoor skating rink, against the backdrop of the old city walls. In 2012 we skated there with our boys and saw other skaters glide past on the large water. You can skate here for miles and miles from one village to another. It won’t get more idyllic than this!
It was a wonderful energy, with so many people enjoying beautiful nature. Chatting with strangers, a feeling of connection after the lonely Covid period and despite the crowds, more than enough distance from each other. Almost old-fashioned cozy.
It was a moment of happiness. Even though I fell on my left thigh in a moment of overconfidence. The ice did not yield and I missed my layers of fat in that spot. It took my breath away, but I got up and kept going. There is painful swelling and walking is uncomfortable, but I already have so many pain spots in my body that these don’t matter.
Maybe I should just stick to watching ice skating on television. I like watching skating competitions; I got that from my father, we often watched them together. It’s always a party with so many fantastic Dutch ice skaters. But I wouldn’t have missed my own skating moment for anything!